From 19% To 15%? Philippines Feels There's 'Room For More Improvement' On Trump Tariffs Before August Deadline

A senior Philippine official said Thursday the country will seek to lower the tariff rate on its exports to the U.S. from 19% to 15%, according to a Bloomberg report.

Major exporters to the U.S. are engaged in last-minute talks with Washington to lock in bilateral trade deals ahead of President Donald Trump’s Aug. 1 deadline for imposing higher tariffs.

“There is room for more improvement on the tariff,” Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. Jose Manuel Romualdez said in a TV interview with Bloomberg.

“As he (Trump) announced earlier today that the lower yield goes to 15% and so we are all hoping that we’ll be able to bring it down to that level,” Romualdez said.

Trump announced the new levy on the Philippines on Tuesday, following his meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the White House. On the same day, Trump announced a deal with Japan, which sets the tariff rate at 15%.

In recent weeks, the U.S. has announced trade pacts with Indonesia and Vietnam, while negotiations with the European Union and India are reportedly in the late stage.

The latest rate levied on the Philippines is lower than the 20% threatened by the Trump administration early this month, but higher than the 17% announced in April.

The U.S. President had said that the Philippines will open its market to U.S. products and will not impose tariffs. Marcos later said the Philippines will only impose a zero levy on certain products, such as automobiles, and will increase imports of soy and wheat products, as well as pharmaceuticals, from the U.S.

In the interview, Romualdez also stated that the U.S. and the Philippines have discussed Washington’s plan to establish an industrial base for the manufacture of ammunition in the Philippines, particularly in Subic Bay, a former American naval base.

As of the last close, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), which tracks stocks in the S&P 500 (SPX) index, is up 7.6% year-to-date, while the Invesco QQQ Series 1 Trust (QQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq-100, has risen 9.6%.

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